Two captains may have exchanged racist, insurbordinate messages

ESCONDIDO  An anonymous email sent recently to Escondido City Council members says the investigation that led to Police Chief Jim Maher’s mysterious retirement last fall was prompted by racist and insubordinate text messages exchanged by two police captains.

The captains named in the email — Craig Carter and Bob Benton — are among a trio of captains that City Manager Clay Phillips says he’s considering for Escondido’s open police chief position.

The email sent to council members June 1 includes a transcription of a 24-message text exchange between two individuals identified only as “Craig” and “Bob.” It’s consistent with Maher’s comments last fall that he was placed on leave shortly after alerting Phillips to potential wrongdoing by high-ranking subordinates.

The email comes at a time when Carter and Benton are under consideration for the high-profile chief position.

The text messages refer to a female Latino police employee as “chihua,” derogatory shorthand for Chihuahua, the small dog breed named for a state in Mexico. The messages also refer to Maher as “a complete mess” and as someone who played favorites among employees.

Carter and Benton didn’t return multiple calls Tuesday to both of their work and personal cell phones.

Last fall, city officials said they couldn’t comment on why Maher was placed on leave or why he eventually retired. They said employee privacy rights prevented them from revealing details of a personnel investigation.

On Tuesday, Phillips and City Attorney Jeff Epp declined to confirm whether the text messages in the email had anything to do with Maher’s departure. They also declined to say whether Carter and Benton had sent the messages.

“I have absolutely no comment,” Epp said. Phillips also declined to comment on the texts, but did say Carter and Benton were still being considered for chief along with Capt. Mike Loarie.

On Wednesday, Phillips issued a statement that the city has a "zero tolerance policy towards racial comments in the workplace." He also said he has "the highest admiration and confidence in all of the members of our Police Department."

Supporters of Maher described the email and texts as a potential vindication for the former chief, who announced his retirement Oct. 31 while still on leave.

“They look like no good reason to get rid of the chief and a possible reason to get rid of the other two guys,” said Tisha Bennett, who organized two City Hall rallies supporting Maher when he was on leave. “It makes me believe the chief when he said he was pushed out without doing anything wrong.”

Supporters of the chief have speculated that Phillips wanted to oust Maher because of friction between the two men. Before retiring, Maher said he refused a pay hike in early 2012 that all other top city managers received.

Bennett said, however, that she had some doubts about the authenticity of the texts, primarily because they were supplied anonymously.

“They could be hearsay or manufactured,” she said. “They aren’t as definitive as I’d like.”